Can you believe he called ALL the County Commissioners "Great Orators"? Suck up! It is disturbing to hear the PBA President talk of a 'Sharp' butcher knife in any context.Rebeca: Don't get the Venom concern. It is like focusing on a fingernail when your thumb is amputated but I like the salary cuts:
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Rivera is a thug of the worst kind. The similarities between him and Tony Soprano are not just in appearance. Scary MO-Fo....
Let's not get personal...stick to the messages not the messengers
Great info.
Since when is your wallet required to be open in perpetuity for the brief service of a few. This machine will evict widows and children and the sick in order to service a tax lean eviction. The only way to stop these abuses is to close "The property Tax" clause. Read on and tell me I'm wrong.
Where, the US Constitution, in article 1 section 9 line 4 forbids Direct Taxation,
being that a direct tax is a tax named and directed towards the items to be taxed.
Direct taxation of real and personal property by Miami-Dade County makes null the concept of private property ownership.
Where the perpetual taxation of real and personal property abolishes the concept of Allodial title granted to the American people.
Where the citizens in the county cannot own any property free and clear because direct taxation of personal and real property is an infinite tax.
Notwithstanding, the 16th Amendment nullification of the apportionment clause in Article 1, as the subsequent court cases have made it clear, the 16th Amendment dealt with only the taxation of income, therefore the prohibition of the direct taxation clause of real and personal property remains intact. The case of Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co., 348 U.S. 426 (1955) showed that only income clearly realized should be taxed not the property. Private property such as a homestead does not generate income until said property is transferred or sold to other owners. The counties taxation of accrued Ad Valorem prior to the exchange of ownership constitutes the taxation of nonexistent income that leads directly to the confiscation of real property owned by the citizens who have no intention of ever selling for profit or loss unless forced by property taxes. The fact that the average tax payer in less than 12 years will pay over 50% of the original purchase price on any given property, proves the point as to why the founding fathers inserted the no direct taxation clause.
The plaintiff seeks the immediate arrest and nullification of all sales of tax certificates in the county and the return of collected property taxes dating back to January 2000.
Interesting point, Abe. It makes sense, but I am afraid we would face the collapse of the economy if we try to correct it.
Do you have a suggestion how to correct it without causing a crash?
PS: Genius, I think Rivera was being sarcastic... although he could be schmoozing ... lots of veiled political threats in that letter.
But in defense of his stance:
"A Cop on the Take"
First, he takes the oath.
Now look at all he takes -
He takes it in stride when people call him pig.
He takes time to stop and talk to children.
He takes your verbal abuse while giving you a ticket you really deserve.
He takes on creeps you would be afraid to even look at.
He takes time away from his family to keep you safe.
He takes your injured children to the hospital.
He takes the graveyard shift without complaint because it's his turn.
He takes his life into his hands daily.
He takes you home when your car breaks down.
He takes time to explain why both you headlights have to work.
He takes the job no one else wants - telling you a loved one has died.
He takes criminals to jail.
He takes in sights that would make you cry.
Sometimes he cries too, but He takes it anyway because someone has to.
If he is lucky, He takes retirement.
He takes memories to bed each night that you couldn't bear for even one day.
Sometimes, He Takes a bullet.
And, yes, occasionally he may take a free cup of coffee.
Then one day he pays for all he has taken,and God takes him.
(This was attributed to 2 different authors, so I am posting it under "anonymous")
______________
I think you have to be there as a Cop to understand the job description. It is not exactly the same as being in the secretarial pool.
Anyone know how we became the Anti-venom supplier to the world? Why should Miami-Dade taxpayers be the sole funder to a service that provides anti-venom to areas outside the county?
It is because our politics produces proportionally more venom than any other county in the state.
be·nev·o·lent adj.
1. Characterized by or suggestive of doing good.
2. Of, concerned with, or organized for the benefit of charity.
John Rivera needs someone to edit his "sharp butcher knife"; it doesn't square very well with the benevolent theme. And you haven't even asked to compare the average salary of police compared to the average family wage in Miami.
Police officers volunteer to join the department. If they want to get paid more they should have become firemen or lobbyists.
DO NOT even go there about police officers.
When you have your butt standing in a dark alley being shot at, then let's talk.
I am not amused about corruption in government, including the police department, however, 99% of the officers are brave men and women. They do have a starting salary (or did) of 41,000 BUT you will not complain about the salary or pension when someone breaks into your house while you are sleeping and you are praying that the cop gets there in time to help you be safe. Get real.
A professional police officer is not sitting with their fingers in their ears. In Miami-Dade County they go from call to call to call. The crime rate is already so freaking high and they going to be letting more bad guys of jail early due to the budget. Soon the officers will not even be able to go to the bathroom on duty. I suppose that will have to become a contract mandated issue: one potty break every 2 hours.
And no, I am not a cop. And I do not know John Rivera.
A quote from Just Dial 911? The Myth of Police Protection, Published in The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty - April 2000, by Richard W. Stevens a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and author of Dial 911 and Die, (Mazel Freedom Press, 1999).
“First, the police cannot and do not protect everyone from crime. Second, the government and the police in most localities owe no legal duty to protect individuals from criminal attack. When it comes to deterring crime and defending against criminals, individuals are ultimately responsible for themselves and their loved ones. Depending solely on police emergency response means relying on the telephone as the only defensive tool. Too often, citizens in trouble dial 911 . . . and die.”
If you do not believe this see the following: Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. 1981), it says"...a government and its agencies are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular individual citizen..." -Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. App. 1981)
Many times the police come in and just clean up the mess, more police will not, in most cases, save you if someone wants to do bodily harm to you and your family. Response times by MDPD are abysmal, be prepared to protect yourself and family. MDPD’s Emergency response time (in minutes) is 5.50. I believe this is average response time not max response time, the target in the budget does not verify this. Note that response time target is Officer dispatch to arrival for Police Services calls it is NOT from the time the call is received to arrival.
youbetcha' : I not sure where you are coming from, just how much should a police officer make? What benefits should they have? They are not God’s, the county should not bankrupt itself with out of sight pay and benefits. How do we know when their compensation is the right amount?
The real issue is how much can Miami-Dade afford for MDPD services? Where is the “fat” in the department? 08/09 budget numbers are $567,716,000 operational budget, $18,839,000 capital budget with 4,333 employees. I for one wonder about the “take home marked and unmarked police cars”, how much does that cost? I see MDPD officers commuting up as far as north Palm Beach.
On a higher level where is the “FAT” in the county? I would like to see a form of “zero based budgeting” with it starting out verifying just what kind of services the citizens want, how much charity should the county dole out? We have a bloated county government that could and should be trimmed. And yes that includes, as painful as it may be, job cuts. In the last 10 or so years we have seen new cities formed that provide municipal services for their residents eliminating millions of dollars that were spent by the county for those same services but we saw no reduction in county budget to allow for this reduction in those same services.
To Anonymous with the quotes:
I not sure where you are coming from, just how much should a police officer make? What benefits should they have? They are not God’s, the county should not bankrupt itself with out of sight pay and benefits. How do we know when their compensation is the right amount?
Hmmm. How much is it worth for YOU to wear a gun and work the midnight shift? Don't forget to factor in impact of the stress on your body and other fun stuff that comes with the badge. This is career that is specialized; just like teaching or brain surgery. Not everyone can do it, and there should be added value in their remuneration because of that fact. What that amount should be, I am not sure.
They could not pay me enough to be a police officer. Much of the stress comes from inter-office politics and then the rest of world chimes in with their issues and meanness.
Continued to Anonymous with the quotes:
First, the police cannot and do not protect everyone from crime. Second, the government and the police in most localities owe no legal duty to protect individuals from criminal attack. When it comes to deterring crime and defending against criminals, individuals are ultimately responsible for themselves and their loved ones.
To respond to this:
1 - a PO on every corner would not protect you all the time. Neither will those frigging surveillance cameras or gated communities. Bad guys are creative weasels. We (joethevoter) are usually not inclined to think like them. The average person doesn't have the time or a need driven issue to cause them to sit around looking for ways to rob, beat, terrorize or kill.
2 - While you spew law; please take into account we as taxpayers have spoken out about the need for police services when we pay for police services in our taxes. That is why we can lobby (Forgive me, educate the elected officials about our community needs, wants and desires) or go to public meetings/hearings. In my eyes, when I pay taxes and have a reasonable expectation of certain services to be provided in exchange, I have a contract with the County to provide those services.
If the mayor had not axed the Consumer Services Department, we might be able to have asked the County Consumer Advocate about the law on the exchange of money for services.
To be honest, if the law is such that the government doesn't have to do to squat for the money they shake out of us, then maybe that is extortion or robbery and you should lead the Tea Party. :0)
3. That last sentence of that quote offers me a choice. Do I as a citizen arm myself and my family and not call 911 because of an increase in police service delays? Or do I set up a safety plan and educate my family the best way possible and still call 911?
As sure as I am sitting here, I am going to do the latter. I am going to "attempt" to be safe and do the most I can to make sure we are protected, so I do not have to avail myself of police services. But, trust me, the first point on my action plan is to call 911 and get the cars rolling.
Far as response times goes, the response times were far less years ago, before we had sprawl in this county. We have more people, more traffic and our police stations are not numerous enough to provide response time free of traffic tie-ups . The incorporation of the cities and westward/southward expansion of the boundaries pulled apart our district police system.
Cities are not picking up county call for services, so if you are in a 3 mile square city or MDPD district, you will get better response time because your officer is not 15 miles away and/or fighting bumper to bumper traffic in rush hour.
The placement of the current stations does not necessarily benefit the population. Nor does the district set-ups reflect the original intent of the growth plan. It is all mucked up and cuts to the budgets certainly will not allow the placement of additional stations and smaller districts.
Finally, comes 2 more of my pet peeves!!!!
WILL EVERYONE LEARN TO MOVE THEIR BUTT OUT OF THE WAY OF EMERGENCY VEHICLES? Response to emergencies require that we citizens do our part too! Our stupidity or stubbornness or selfishness, whatever it is that makes drivers not move out of the way makes a difference in instances of life-safety for someone. That someone someday may be you or your loved one.
My other request is: DO NOT CALL 911 TO ASK HOW TO BAKE A POTATO, WHAT TIME SCHOOL STARTS, OR WHERE TO GO FOR TRAFFIC COURT. Those questions do not constitute an emergency; just in case you were wondering and were inclined to dial 911 for the answer.
Call the county 311 line, if that department is still there.
youbetcha' I guess I came on a little strong on the 911 thing. I have and will call 911 and pray that I will not need to “take on” someone trying to harm me. I was jus trying to make the point that in the end we all need to take action to protect ourselves. You may prefer to depend on a 911 response; I will be prepared to respond otherwise if the response time is too great. Thank GOD we are free to make those choices.
You danced around my questions, I will ask the last one again; How do we know when their compensation is the right amount? I am not picking on MDPD, this BLOG entry starts out with a PBA Rivera letter about cuts. The county needs to look at all areas to cut. I am a supporter on MDPD in ways I don’t want to include here.
You seem to put the police on a very high pedestal, based on what you have entered one would think we, the taxpayers, should give them anything they want. I don’t feel that way; there is a limit to ALL services we can afford. I also feel that if the MDPD budget were looked at in detail there area areas that could be cut.
One last comment: Two large areas of the county UMSA budget, Doral and Miami Gardens, have formed their own police forces. One would think this would have caused the MDPD to reduce the budget by the reduction in police services needed to provide service to those areas. I don’t think you will find any reduction. The same goes for other county municipal services to those areas.
The firemen have the massive pensions.
One of the previous comments is correct; Miami Gardens, Doral, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, Miami Lakes, amongst others have incorporated in the past few years. Although the county is still growing, it dosent make up for the over hundred thousand residents who now live in newly incorporated towns, with their own police departments. Why shouldnt the budget shrink? And if they are such a good agency, why have so many municipalities opted to create their own agencies? Seems the other departments are not screaming for money riht now. And if the department is so strained, how can you account for the countless officers having two hour lunches at Dolphin Mall, or sitting and talking every morning at La Carreta having coffee for over an hour. I challenge anyone to sit in the food court one day and watch as plain clothed officers hang out, shop and otherwise waste our tax dollars. I guess La Carreta needs an entire squad to prevent coladas from being stolen.
Dont let Rivera fool you with talk of doom and gloom. In the past few years, crime has been going up, yet the county coffers were fat and the department was happy. It seams the fatter we made them, the higher crime went up. I cant be happier that we have our own Police Department in Pinecrest.
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